Orange Blossoms And Potato Sheds At Dudley Farm Historic State Park

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Another place I wanted to go while my parents were visiting was Dudley Farm Historic State Park, just outside of Gainesville.

I had it on my map and kept thinking about it so I figured this was the perfect time to go, and boy was I right!

It wasn’t busy the day we went, we really only saw one other small group of people, and the weather was perfect.

But best of all, the orange trees were blooming and they smelled SO. GOOD.

I’m getting ahead of myself though. First, we had to stop at the Little Free Library. I found a cool copy of Kon-Tiki which was very exciting.

Then we stopped in a little museum before taking the paved path on the left to head back to the farm area.

This path curves to the right into the woods, then on the left you’ll see a big open area and the farm ahead.

At the farm gate there is a pretty good view of the farmhouse, garden, and other buildings.

We started out inside the house where they have it set up as if people still lived there.

We couldn’t go in the rooms but could look into them from the doorways in the main hall.

After the house, we went out to walk around the yard and outbuildings. There are signs around explaining what everything is as you see it.

My favorite was the orange trees on the right (straight out, with the house behind you).

The oranges themselves didn’t look that great but the orange blossoms were the best thing I’ve ever smelled, they were so good.

And you didn’t even have to be right there with your nose in the flowers to smell them, you could smell them from kind of far away.

Plus, the flowers are beautiful. After a significant amount of time enjoying the blossoms, I moved on, making my way downtown, walking fast.

I’m kidding, but I did start to make my way through the other buildings around the grounds.

There is an old general store, animal housing, various gardens, a sweet potato shed (so specific!), a kitchen, a pump house, and a variety of other spaces.

There is a pasture on each side of the grounds and a large area for row crops on the right (with the house behind you, similar to the orange trees).

After thoroughly exploring this area, we headed back out the front gate and instead of going back the way we came, we went straight.

There is a sinkhole on the left once you cross the road and the path continues to a bunch of barns and storage sheds.

This is also where they have a little shop you can actually buy things in. We didn’t get anything but stopped in to check it out.

And from here, you’re right back at the parking area! There is a lot to see here so I would plan at least two hours if you want to be thorough.

But you could probably spend an hour here and still be fine, getting a solid idea of what the park is.

I’m glad we took the time to stop here, and if you like this, you should also visit the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home in Cross Creek (or if you liked that, come here).

Travel Services I Recommend:
AllTrails – This is my favorite hike tracking app.
America the Beautiful – The national park pass is essential.
Booking.com – This is great for finding and booking hotels.
Get Your Guide – I recommend Get Your Guide for booking tours.
National Park Obsessed – This is the best national park planner.
Skyscanner – Skyscanner is great for finding and booking flights.
Enterprise – This is my rental car recommendation.
See all my resources here.